Latest News

Welcome to our archive of news stories relevant to the project of fighting fashionable nonsense. The stories are drawn from the electronic pages of the world’s media. On this page, you’ll find links to those stories that have been featured on Butterflies and Wheels during the current year. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find links to separate archives of stories from previous years.

We’re always pleased to hear about news stories that you think should be featured on Butterflies and Wheels. Just send an email here, if you want to point one out to us.

A note about links

Inevitably links go out of date. We suggest, therefore, that you make hard-copies of the stories that particularly interest you.


Vancouver Sun talks to Pat Churchland *

Feb 4th, 2012 | Filed by

She considers neuroscience more reliable than folk psychology.



Julian Baggini notes it’s not easy being atheist in the US *

Feb 4th, 2012 | Filed by

In a nation that celebrates freedom of religion like no other, freedom not to be  religious at all can be as hard to exercise as the right to swim the Atlantic.



Subject opinion to coercion: whom will you make your inquisitors? *

Feb 4th, 2012 | Filed by

Members of UCLASH were not reposting the cartoon to reoffend, but to reaffirm that if the freedom to speak means anything, it means the freedom to say things that people do not like.



Bath Christian group’s ‘God can heal’ adverts banned *

Feb 4th, 2012 | Filed by

Advertising Standards Authority said leaflet that says “Need Healing? God can heal today!” is misleading. Group said it’s just normal Christian belief.



US: one town’s war on gay teenagers *

Feb 3rd, 2012 | Filed by

“LGBTQ students don’t feel safe at school. They’re made to feel ashamed of who they are. They’re bullied. And there’s no one to stand up for them, because teachers are afraid of being fired.”



Marc Stephens threatens Popehat some more *

Feb 3rd, 2012 | Filed by

Out of the blue, Stephens sends Popehat a message saying, “I see you’re obsessed with me.”



BBC on Justin Griffith and Rock Beyond Belief *

Feb 3rd, 2012 | Filed by

Prior to planning the concert, he registered his complaints against the army’s spiritual fitness test, a campaign that he continues.



Heavenly beings and astral forces: the real meaning of ‘social pedagogy’ *

Feb 3rd, 2012 | Filed by

‘Social pedagogy’ has its roots in anthroposophy, which holds that children – and adults with learning and developmental disabilities – exist partly in the spirit world.



Ridiculous dispute over Koran exhibition *

Feb 3rd, 2012 | Filed by

Kirklees Muslim Action Committee says Ahmadiyya Muslim Association has “no right to put on an exhibition about the Qur’an” because blah blah blah.



The Economist talks to Nick Cohen *

Feb 2nd, 2012 | Filed by

Nick mentions Does God Hate Women?



Philip Kitcher on Derek Parfit on what matters *

Feb 2nd, 2012 | Filed by

Asking how we might make sense of ethical truth and ethical knowledge can be a valuable initial step toward discovering what ought to be done or what is worth cherishing.



Richard Dawkins on reading Nick Cohen after Jaipur *

Feb 2nd, 2012 | Filed by

Not only do the affronted themselves kick up an almighty fuss; they are abetted and encouraged by influential figures from other religions and the liberal establishment.



Protests mar Taslima Nasreen book launch in Calcutta *

Feb 1st, 2012 | Filed by

Nasreen has faced protests at the launch of her latest memoir, with an event at the Calcutta Book Fair cancelled.



Indian cartoonist charged with treason for mocking the state *

Feb 1st, 2012 | Filed by

His accusers argue that while it is permissible to make fun of politicians, you cannot make fun of the state.



Skeptic lawyer on equal marriage in Scotland *

Feb 1st, 2012 | Filed by

Labour’s Johann Lamont, Ruth Davidson of the Conservatives, Willie Rennie of the Lib Dems and the Greens’ Patrick Harvie signed a pledge expressing their backing for gay marriage.



The ethics of offence at LSE *

Feb 1st, 2012 | Filed by

We firmly believe that the LSESU has no right to ban freedom of expression, and if anything is deserving of ridicule, satire, and contempt religion is a sure candidate.



Jesus boils down the Koran *

Feb 1st, 2012 | Filed by

It turns out to be quite short.



ASA Adjudication on Healing on the Streets-Bath *

Feb 1st, 2012 | Filed by

ASA told HOTS not to make claims which stated or implied that, by receiving prayer from their volunteers, people could be healed of medical conditions.



Theocracy flexing its muscles in Indiana *

Feb 1st, 2012 | Filed by

First a bill allowing creationism to be taught in public schools; now a bill to allow public schools to start the day with a Christian prayer.



Hanif Kureishi reviews Nick Cohen’s You Can’t Read This Book *

Jan 31st, 2012 | Filed by

What is crucial is that the quarrel is not closed; and to see that closing quarrels is what lifeless ideologies do.